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Unrivaled Facing Criticism After Sabrina Ionescu Decision
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

As the inaugural season of the Unrivaled 3-on-3 women's basketball league rolls toward the playoffs, fans learned on Monday that they will not be able to see one of the league's biggest stars play again this season.

Several journalists reported that Unrivaled sent out a release before Monday night's games — Rose BC vs. Laces BC and Phantom BC vs. Lunar Owls BC — announcing that Phantom star Sabrina Ionescu will not play any more games in Unrivaled due to "prior commitments." The league did not announce the move on social media or its website.

A 2024 WNBA Finals champion, the New York Liberty guard has played in nine of Phantom's 11 games, averaging 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per contest. 

Ionescu's club has three regular season games left, but at 3-8 with a -116 point differential and missing its best player, chances of making the four-team playoff are slim.

Fans responded to the news with pointed criticism toward the nascent league, arguing that allowing perhaps its most recognizable star to skip games is a bad look for Unrivaled.

"All that money to get Sabrina and she’s not even doing a full season," wrote one fan

Unrivaled's average salary per player was over $200,000 — the most ever for a women's sports league. Ionescu, Unrivaled's final signing, reportedly made more than her average $205,030 WNBA salary with the Liberty, though her Unrivaled compensation was undisclosed.

"Unrivaled made a mistake in being too flexible with people’s schedules," wrote one response on X. "Most players just take the weekdays to fulfill their obligations but I fear this precedent being set by one or two players takes it further."

"Sabrina has missed multiple games and the 1v1 tournament because of prior commitments and is now out for the rest of the season... And even when she was there, said publicly that she wasn't locked in... Not her fault, but it's made a complete joke out of the league," said another disappointed X user.

From Ionescu's perspective, it was a successful debut for the league despite her lack of influence on the court. She was bullish on the future of Unrivaled in a press conference after what turned out to be her final game last Friday.

"To be able to do what we've done here in year one and for it to be that successful, it's kind of hard to top," she said. "Everyone here bought in to make sure it goes right. The direction it's headed in is lets get more people, let's get more teams, let's go to more cities."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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